Funding has been made available for cutting‑edge cyber security companies to prove and scale their solutions while strengthening the UK’s critical national infrastructure. 

The Cyber Scale in Critical Sectors competition creates a structured way for innovators and critical sector organisations to work together, trialling advanced tools in live or realistic environments.

Cyber Scale is run by Innovate UK and will fund projects where cyber security firms demonstrate the operation, impact, and value of their technologies in real‑world settings. 

Organisations can apply for up to £300,000 each to develop, demonstrate, and commercialise their cyber security solution in real end user environments within critical sector organisations.

The focus is on solutions that are already fairly mature (around Technology Readiness Level 7) and ready to be proven at scale. 

Challenge areas include proactive defence of critical systems, advanced threat detection and eviction, innovative threat hunting, and tackling legacy system vulnerabilities that still underpin vital services.

Who can enter

Funding is aimed at promising UK cyber security companies with scalable solutions that address the needs of critical sectors such as chemicals, communications, emergency services, energy, food, health, space, transport and water. 

These companies must be willing to work closely with end users in those sectors, ensuring their technologies are tested in realistic operational environments and shaped by direct customer feedback.

The benefits

The competition offers cyber firms, funded projects, access to real operational environments and a clearer route to commercial deployment. 

For critical sector organisations, it provides a low‑risk way to trial innovative cyber tools, address live security challenges, influence product development, and strengthen organisational resilience with reduced procurement risk. 

Overall, the aim is to lower barriers to adopting innovation and boost the cyber robustness of the UK’s critical national infrastructure.

EMCSC’s role

The East Midlands Cyber Security Cluster (EMCSC) is promoting Cyber Scale as part of its mission to build opportunities for both regional cyber companies and critical sector organisations.

By mobilising its network, EMCSC can help East Midlands innovators and operators get the investment they need to participate and bring new solutions into real‑world use. 

 

EMCSC founder and director Dr Ismini Vasileiou said: “Cyber Scale in Critical Sectors is a fantastic opportunity for UK innovators and critical organisations to work side by side, turning advanced ideas into deployed capabilities that make a real difference to our national resilience.”

How to enter

 

Go to the Cyber Scale competition page on Innovate UK Business Connect and follow the “Find out more and apply” link to the Innovation Funding Service.

You will need to provide a project description explaining your cyber solution, how it will be deployed in a real critical‑sector environment, and which challenges it addresses.

You also need to evidence that you will work closely with at least one end‑user in a critical sector and can complete a 12‑month project within the specified cost limit.